It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made sure listeners felt every bit of that energy from the very first minute. “We have to make a decision,” Paul B. told the audience. “It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today. And we’re going to change our mindsets over to something else.” With that, the show launched into one of its richest conversations in recent memory — centered on music, community, and the enduring promise of North Omaha’s most storied corridor.
Before welcoming their guest, the hosts paused to share some good news making the rounds in the local community. Charell Shelton’s diagnostic lab recently received a $52,000 prize — a moment the hosts celebrated as exactly the kind of homegrown achievement worth amplifying. The chat room, as always, was alive with warmth. Viewer Aeros 402 shared a personal milestone that stopped the room: “On a love note — my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” It was the kind of moment that reminds you why a show like this matters to its community.
The hosts also touched on Nebraska’s recent primary election results — and the numbers gave them pause. Paul B. referenced a post by Raquel Henderson, noting that only 339,032 out of more than 1.2 million registered voters in Nebraska showed up to the polls. “And yet everybody has something to say,” Paul B. observed. “Everybody’s angry. Everybody’s debating policies online. Where is that same energy when it’s time to organize, educate, mobilize, register, and actually vote?” Buddy the God echoed the urgency: “None of this — a lot of this — doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” Viewer Kimber Snipes offered a thoughtful counterpoint from the chat, noting that in her conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35, “most of them don’t really know what to do and know nothing about the candidates,” and suggesting the focus should shift toward deeper civic education rather than shaming non-voters.
The conversation found its heart, though, when Dana Murray joined the show. Murray is the founder and executive director of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA) — formerly known as Love’s Jazz — a youth music academy, performance venue, and community cornerstone anchored on the North 24th Street corridor. A South Omaha native and lifelong musician who spent eleven years in New York City before returning home, Murray brings both an outsider’s perspective and a deep personal love for what North Omaha represents.
Paul B. set the table with conviction. “I’ve always called it the most important black corner in Nebraska,” he said of North 24th Street. Murray didn’t flinch from that weight. “Really, the area that has the most history and the one that can claim ‘we are a cultural and arts district’ for real is the North 24th Street corridor,” Murray said. “And we’ve been so far removed from that.” He laid out a clear-eyed vision for what a thriving district looks like — housing, services, parking, eateries — but also destinations. “Entertainment, restaurants, lounges, things that are going to be your bread-and-butter attractions to draw people into the community. It would be great to have a hotel, because with a hotel you can throw larger attractions — music festivals, conferences — right in the community.”
Murray also addressed the quiet skepticism some have raised about an outsider planting roots on the North Side. His answer was both honest and generous. “People that are from North Omaha — really, if you’re Black and you’re in Omaha, especially in the 70s and early 80s, everyone had a shared relationship with North Omaha,” he said. “That was the Mecca for us.” He spoke candidly about what he sees as missed opportunities, including Native Omaha Days — which he respects at its core — but views as a chance not fully seized to invite all of Omaha into the culture. “People told me that was going to be very hard,” Murray said of his efforts to draw a broader audience to North 24th Street. “But people don’t have any problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come hear jazz music or whatever we present.”
The NMA’s ambitions are anything but small. Murray described the organization not just as a music school, but as a model for what community investment can look like. “If you think of Omaha Performing Arts and what it means to downtown — not only as a music entertainment entity that imports talent, but as an economic vehicle that brings in $40–$50 million in revenue every year — that’s what we’re trying to build for North Omaha,” he said. A capital campaign with a first phase of $20 million is on the horizon, with an NMA campus as the ultimate goal.
But Murray was quick to remind listeners that the mission runs deeper than music itself. “We’re not only raising musicians; more importantly, we’re raising more critical-thinking human beings,” he said. “Whatever these young kids choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.” That idea resonated with Paul B., who used it to illustrate the show’s closing concept of the “secondary matrix” — the idea of building empowering ecosystems within larger systems. “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but on the secondary level, the mission is to create critical thinkers,” Paul B. explained. “That’s what this is really about.” Viewer Pops put it beautifully from personal experience: “I experienced my secondary matrix in junior high when I took algebra. I was gaining proficiency and noticed I was suddenly able to think outside the box on several different levels. Music the same.”
For those inspired to get involved, Murray extended an open invitation — particularly to music educators. Prospective instructors can reach him at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or his assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org. Murray was clear about what NMA looks for: “Unless you’re able to inspire a young person, they don’t have the attention span for the X’s and O’s of music. The why you’re doing it is everything.” Viewer Derek Higgins summed up the room’s feeling simply: “Congrats, Dana, and what NMA is doing. Much love to y’all.”
Buddy the God closed with a charge that felt like the show’s thesis for the day: “We got to do both. We got to build our own ecosystems and continue to do the things that we’re about to talk about. But in the long run, we do got to figure this out as far as a nation.” It was a Friday reminder that local action and big vision aren’t opposites — they’re partners.
If you missed this one, do yourself a favor and catch the replay. And be sure to tune in Monday morning, when Paul B., Buddy the God, and the Chat Chimers will be back at it — bringing Omaha the conversations that matter most, one Love Supreme Friday at a time.
